Bouncin’ right back: Lancers rebound from SM South loss with huge win

SM East sophomore Lucas Jones finishing off his second — that’s right, second — dunk of the night. Boomshakalaka!

That game last Friday? Ancient history.

The SM East boys basketball team showed plenty of resilience Wednesday with a drubbing of Wyandotte High School in the first round of substate tournament play. Led by a huge night from sophomore Lucas Jones, the Lancers beat the Bulldogs 73-42.

SM East jumped to a big lead in the first quarter and never let Wyandotte build any momentum to get back into the game. Because the Lancers were up by 30 points in the fourth quarter, the Kansas State High School Athletics Association’s “Running Clock” rule kicked in, meaning the fourth quarter kept ticking away even during stops in play.

Jones and seniors Vantz Wentz and Zach Schneider — all at least 6’4″ — were simply too big for the undersized and inexperienced Bulldogs team to compete with. Wentz finished the night with 19 points, and Schneider with 16, but their impressive performances paled in comparison to Jones, who finished the night with 28 points, 24 of which were scored from inside the paint. He slammed down an alley-oop dunk in the second quarter — and then dunked again in the third.

Coach Shawn Hair said the team had responded well in the wake of last week’s loss to SM South — just the Lancers’ second of the season — and the weather.

“We didn’t get to practice yesterday, so that can throw you off a little and make it tougher on you,” he said. “But the kids played hard and did a good job. We’ll have to work on a defense for the next round.”

SM East will face Blue Valley at 7 p.m. Friday in the SM East gym in their substate final.

Coach Shawn Hair said defense will be a focus in preparing for Friday’s substate final.